Final Fantasy IX: Rise Of A New Evil
by Krishna Omega
Summary: 17 years after the ‘Great War’ a new evil rises. The cast of FFIX, and a new cast, must fight off this new evil before Gaia is overrun.
1. Life After The Great War

_**Final Fantasy IX:**_

_**Rise Of A New Evil**_

Chapter 1: Life After The Great War 

A/N: Well I was thoroughly disappointed that my last FFIX fic didn't do well at all, and I hope this one does a lot better. The first chapter may not seem all that, but I assure you, the plot gets interesting.

Note: Line Breaks represent a P.O.V change, a time skip, or a location change.

* * *

"Peace is but a shadow of death…" –Kuja

A world, once cast into chaos and on the brink of destruction, because of one man…with only one intention…with only one reason to live…to bring death and destruction to those around him, is now peaceful. Alexandrian's, and many around the world now recognize Zidane Tribal, and Garnet till Alexandros the XVII as their leaders. Over the past seventeen years since the Great War, the world of Gaia has rested easy, any worries of war has completely diminished, and peace reigns supreme…

* * *

The familiar sounds of the busy city known as Treno were drowned out as the Invincible lowered to the ground, the incredibly powerful, incredibly _loud_, turbines of the large airship was the source of the noise. As the turbines died out to an almost inaudible hum, the gates of The Dark City opened, and a group of ten soldiers, five female soldiers, and five males, each clad in Alexandrian Armor, entered Treno, following the group was a young female dressed in an shapely, elegant white dress that showed off her perfectly shaped features. The dress had a V-Cut that ended at her chest, and was open in the back down to her tailbone. Her blonde shoulder-blade length hair was combed neatly, parted in the middle, hair falling to either side, a few loose strands falling over her bright, emerald eyes, and a single, noticeable, silvery strand hung down past her stub nose, and slightly below her glossy lips. Her complexion was that of a light, creamy tan.

In the front of the group of soldiers was a well-built, tall, male Knight clad in nicely polished armor, chain mail hung down his large biceps, crowning his head was a steel, faceless, helmet with a single feather inserted into the side of the helmet. Walking beside him, was another soldier, a female with a metal eye patch and long brown locks, like the male next to her; much of her body was clad armor, besides her legs that were covered by skin-tight pants. They were both around thirty years old. The two led the group onto the right path, to where the Nobles lived.

Two soldiers were stationed behind the blonde-haired female; the others encircled her, providing protection. As they walked, her mind wandered. The many buildings, the many Inn's and shops, all of them she wanted to explore. The people seemed interesting enough; all of them appeared to be, by all rights, fine people. Though her heart ached because she would not see home for nine months, another side of her was excited, ready to explore, and see things she never saw before. Her mind continued to wander. What excitement would await her in her first days in this place? What new people would she meet? What new things would she learn? Or what hard journeys may be in store for her?

The group came to a halt, the elegantly dressed female nearly bumped into the somewhat skimpily attired Alexandrian female soldier in front of her. There was a building in front of the group. Directly across from it, behind them, was another rather large building, to their right was a café, and down the road to their left was the woman known as Queen Stella.

"We have arrived," Said the large knight at the front of the group. "Doctor Tot is waiting." He held out his gloved hand in a motion for her to proceed into the building before them. She complied, and was ushered by the Knight to the front doors of the building.

Inside it wasn't something she wasn't used to seeing. There were no crystal chandeliers with candlelight sparkling proudly, no marble floors, no golden-framed portraits of people, any costly decorations, or furniture. It was just a simple building. The floors were polished wood, the walls were simple and white, the corridor had only two doors, one at the very end of the hall, and another to the left of that door. At the end of the corridor was a corner.

The two proceeded down the hall.

"Why are you always so tense?" The blonde-haired female queried.

"It is my job, I cannot let my mind wander, and I must keep myself focused on the task before me."

She laughed. "The task before you, huh? Odin, Adelbert! All you're doing is-" She stopped, catching him glaring at her. "Oh, sorry, I meant Steiner. Why are you so picky about which name I call you? It's all the same right?"

"Calling me by my last name sounds more formal." Steiner replied as the two turned the corner, a narrow staircase was revealed, and they began heading up the stairs.

At the top was another door at the end of the hall, to the left, and one last door almost straight across from the top of the stairs. The blonde haired girl brushed the silvery strand of hair from her angelic face, for about the hundredth time in the last few hours. Steiner moved too the door in front of the two, and knocked three times.

A sharp voice told them to come in from inside the room. They complied, Steiner moved into the room first, followed by the young woman. The door had opened into a simple room, a couch pushed to the left wall, a large window at the far end of the room. In front of the window was a desk, two chairs set up in front of it, and behind the desk was a person. Of course, it wasn't your…average, person. Like many other races, this man was not exactly human. He looked human in shape, humanoid if you will, but had a feathered body, a beak, and small beady black eyes tucked behind bifocals.

"Oh, oh! Great, Great! Steiner, you have finally arrived!" Doctor Tot walked around to the front of the desk, and shook Steiner's hand. His gaze then turned to the female. Tot adjusted his glasses with his feathery hands, and then moved closer to the girl. "Oh, what joy, you must be my niece, Garnet's daughter!"

The girl pushed the silvery strand of hair, which had fallen back into her face seconds before, behind her ear and smiled. "Hello, Doctor Tot."

"Oh, please, call me Tot. I am your uncle for Odin's sake!" The Doctor took a step back. "My, my, what a fine young lady you are. You've grown very much, I must say. The last time I saw you, you were only three, and so small, but still cute by all means. You have your fathers' eyes, and his hair. And Odin knows you have your mothers' beauty. How old are you now?"

She could feel her face becoming red; all of this praise was making her flush. She laughed, and looked to the floor. When she turned back to him, the silvery strand fell back into her face, and for the first time Doctor Tot noticed it, and only one name came to his mind…Ku- "I'm sixteen, sir."

The doctor's thoughts were broken as she replied and he nodded. "I see. You still have a lot of growing to do. By the time you're done growing, you will be the most gorgeous woman in all of Gaia! You may even surpass your mother." Doctor Tot winked, and if his beak could grin, he would be doing just that.

Steiner laid a hand on her shoulder and grinned. "Your mother and father are very proud of you. It'll be a shame not having you around the castle, but this should be a good experience for you, princess. For now, I wish you good luck, and goodbye, Princess."

The Princess' smile widened, and she embraced Steiner. Somehow she always saw him as being a second father, he was there when Zidane could not be at her side, and she knew it was someone that would protect her, someone she could rely on and trust.

"Before you go, Steiner, I want you to call me by my name, hmm? Or I will start calling you _Bert_!"

Steiner laughed. "As you wish, Terra. Once again, good luck, and goodbye." And then he left. As his footsteps' thumps disappeared she turned to Doctor Tot.

"Terra, I have a house for you to stay at. I would let you stay at my Tower but there's simply not enough room there. But anyways, it is getting late, so I should show you the way."

"Okay. Lets go."

* * *

"I wonder what she's doing now. Do you think she's sleeping? Eating? Do you think she's even there yet?" She was worried. And Odin knew she wouldn't stop babbling until she received some sort of message from her beloved daughter. 

Slipping under the heavy blankets and sheets, Zidane settled next to his wife and sighed. "Stop worrying yourself. Terra's fine, and you know it. Ole' Rusty will look after her until they get there."

"But what if something happens to her in Treno?"

"Nah, Treno is a plenty good place."

"Plenty _good_? Bah! I was pick-pocketed the first day I went there!"

Zidane rolled onto his side, and stared into her coffee brown eyes. "Believe me, she'll be fine." Garnet gazed back at him. "Besides, she is _my _daughter." Zidane smirked, and wrapped his arms around her.

Garnet returned the embrace, giving up her worries, and their lips met. It was truly stimulating, their love for each other. Every moment seemed to last hours, every moment with one another felt as if a large portion of their destiny had been fulfilled. They loved each other greater then they could believe. What a match too, a mere thief, and a Queen, their love for each other seemed to never diminish.

Zidane enjoyed the moment as his lips met her own soft lips. He closed his eyes, taking in the moment. The Genome's hand slipped down to the small of her back, and further…

"Zidane!" Garnet giggled. "Stop it!" She pushed his hand away.

"Sorry babe. Couldn't help myself."

"I noticed." Garnet said with a bit of sarcasm in her voice. She laughed and scooted closer to him and buried her face into his chest after quickly saying goodnight.

* * *

It wasn't what she expected. It was far from what she expected. The two stood in front of a rundown home, the outside of the house had planks nailed over holes, the roof was boarded up too. But altogether, it was a sturdy home. The two moved inside, the old scholar first, and then Terra. Inside, the house was actually nice. The door had opened up into a straightforward living room, a couch, table, and a bungled fireplace, a flame burned brightly as the only source of light in the room. There were two door less doorways, one led to a simple kitchen, the other too a bedroom. 

"I know it isn't exactly a grand Inn, but it's all I could find…in all of Treno! Weird isn't it? But anyways, Terra, I'm very sorry about this. I hope I can find something else for you."

"It's alright, Doctor." Terra smiled reassuringly at him.

"If you say so. Oh, and Terra, I left clothing in the bedroom for you to change into. And remember to make it to your class on time. You don't want to be late your first time in your uncles class do you?" That's right, she had a class tomorrow. That was the whole reason for coming all the way too Treno. Doctor Tot decided a few months ago to put his teaching skills to use. So he decided to construct a simple schoolhouse for teaching in. The fee: zero Gil.

"No, sir." Terra's smile widened as she joked with the old scholar. "It's eight in the morning, correct?"

Doctor Tot nodded his feathery head and adjusted his glasses. "Goodnight, Terra."

"Goodnight uncle." Terra replied, and for a moment, she wondered how these people would be able to tell the time without clocks? For Odin's sake it was always night here!

After he left, Terra quickly found out just how tired she was. She closed the door quietly behind him, and latched the lock on the door before heading to the bedroom. Once again, it was another simple room. A bed near the far wall, a dresser near the door, nightstand next to her bed, and the clock hanging above her bed were the only things in the room. It was hot too, very stuffy in the room. She moved over too the dresser, guessing that It was the large dress that was making her hot, and quickly found clothing to change into before sleeping. She stripped the heavy dress, feeling relieved to have it off of her body. The room still felt stifling.

It didn't take her long to spot the window next to her bed. Terra slipped on the long shirt and moved to the window. She quickly found the lock, releasing it; she lifted the window until there was a _click_. The air blew in, a gentle breeze that let her hair flow freely. She would have stood there longer letting the cool air relax her, but quite frankly there wasn't anything to look at but an empty alleyway. So she turned away from the window and set the clock to sound at six in the morning, and then plopped down on the bed.

* * *

The man stopped in a dark alley, gasping for breath, his eyes wide as he continued to watch the outside of the alley; the cobblestone streets of Alexandria were quiet. The only sound was that of the thump of his rapidly pumping heart. He could feel cold sweat on his face, his arms, and his palms. He was literally pouring sweat as he stood there. 

"Why are you running…?" A voice whispered too him.

"Stop following me! I didn't do anything!" The man blurted out in between raspy breaths, and he snapped his head back and forth, looking for his pursuer in terror.

"…I know…" The voice laughed devilishly.

"But-" The man stopped as a figure appeared in front of him, towering over the man by at least six inches. The man was covered in shadows, and only the shimmer of a blade could be seen as the man unsheathed a long sword, and in one quick motion, thrust the sword into the mans abdomen, and quickly pulled it back out and stabbed again, and again, and again, and then with one arm he lifted the man by his throat, about half a foot so the mans was at the killer's head level. The dieing man muttered something, dark red liquid pouring from his wounds and mouth.

"Still alive? Not for long…" The killer lifted the blade, and drove the sword through the dieing man's chest, and instantly it erupted into flames, engulfing the man's body instantly. The killer soon after removed the sword, and the flames instantly died, the corpse falling to the ground. The murderer sheathed the sword and retrieved a small knife from his jacket, and crouched down next to the dead man…

* * *

_BING! BING! BING…_

_Stop…_

_BING!_

_Shut up…_

_BING! BING!_

_I'm not a morning person…Definitely not…_

_BING!_

_I do have class…so maybe I should get up? Nah…ten more minutes won't hurt._

_BING! BING! BING!_

The clock continued to sound relentlessly, despite her pleads inside her head, it continued, spitefully reminding her that school was in only two hours, and she still needed to bathe, make breakfast, dress herself, fix her hair, and walk all the way too the schoolhouse-_BING!_

"Alright, alright! I give up! Odin!" Terra sat up, smacking her lips together a few times, one eye drooping, and the other closed. "Nope…not a morning person."

* * *

_You failed to fulfill your destiny, but I am willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself, Dark Messenger. If, of course, you do something for me…Kill that brother of yours…he poses a threat. Not that I can't overcome the weakly Genome myself, it would be one less thing for me to worry about. So what do you say, Angel? One last shot at world domination? _

_Shut up…_

_I will not be denied. The preparation is almost complete. Your time is running out. Two chances left. Answer me!_

"No!" The Genome shot up into a sitting position, icy blue eyes wide as if in terror, sweat rolled down his pale face in tiny rivulets. After catching his breath he combed a hand through his long silver hair and fell back onto the mattress.

Every night for the last two months, some unknown voice would question him. Telling him that his destiny was not fulfilled, saying he'd get a chance at redemption. What redemption was there? He promised too his brother that the past would never re-occur, never would blood not his own stain his hands. Never would he go back to his ways. Never would he be known as the Angel of Death any longer. But still, the haunting voice persisted to, on every night for the past two months, call him Angel, or Dark Messenger. The only explanation for the name 'Angel' was a shorter version of Angel of Death.

"I want to redeem myself…I want to live, I want to be a normal person. But my sins have imprisoned me in my own abode. It would mean death to even step foot into my own Auction House now. All of Gaia is against me. What can I do but wait until my final days come upon me?" Then the images from his dream flashed through his mind. The real reason he woke, frightened, in a sweat, angry. Images of those killed at his hand flashed before him. He watched in his sleep as hundreds of innocent Burmecian's fell at the hands of his creations. He watched as the Summoner's village was disintegrated by the Invincible, watched as Bahamut's Mega Flare washed over a helpless Queen Brahne, watched as he practically lost insanity, letting his thirst for power engulf him, he shook with anger at the thought of Zidane being better, stronger, perfect, with the young woman that he once felt should be his, and then he would wake.

"Why do I have to live?" Kuja hung his head low, silver hair falling around his face, just as young-looking as he had been almost two decades ago. It was a benefit of being a Genome; they never aged, in looks anyways. Looks always stayed the same, they grew, but as children were only miniature versions of what they were in their adult years, and then growing would come to a halt. "Death is the key out of my situation, but my conscious won't allow me to do it. It's almost as if I feel I'm needed by the world…but why?" Of course…his death was due soon…seeing as how he is the only Genome that wasn't guaranteed an everlasting life…maybe he just had to wait it out…

* * *

Terra took a deep breath, the warm liquid that caressed her body as she lye there was refreshing. It was quiet nice too, the only light was that of candlelight, since Treno was dark twenty-four seven. After waking up, Terra found a package and a bottle of milk outside her house. The package was sent by Doctor Tot, a note on it said that it was full of various meats and several blocks of ice to keep the meat preserved. She picked out a few strips of bacon within the package, and fried it for breakfast. Afterwards she decided to take a bath. With only one hour left, she had plenty of time to relax. 

But the minutes ticked by hastily, and she was climbing out from the bathtub. Terra grabbed a towel from a shelf, and wrapped herself in it; she grabbed another and dried her hair with it. Terra moved quickly through the house and into her bedroom once her hair was dried, and picked out clothing to wear. What she picked was black, knee-high boots, and a white dress with thin straps. She then moved back into the bathroom and combed her hair properly. Just as it had been the day before, and still with the silvery, natural, strand of hair that hung down her face. Smiling into the mirror, she turned away from the mirror, and headed out the door.

* * *

"Chris! You're going to be late! Hurry up!" 

"Late…but I'll be _fashionably _late!" The young male yelled back at the voice on the other side of the door.

"Just hurry up!" The voice snapped.

The young male, Chris, grinned a white-teethed grin, and quite egotistical grin, into the mirror before him. His attire consisted of a white t-shirt under a black thin-material button up shirt left unbuttoned, black jeans, and black boots. His hair was glossy, not greasy, but had a natural glossy shine to it, and was mid-neck length, and somewhat messy.

Chris exited the bathroom, and met the other male, much older, at the door. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, exposing what seemed to be endless tribal tattoos that lined his arms from his shoulders, and got thinner until they reached his wrists, blue jeans, brown gloves, and black boots. His hair was blonde, and much like Chris, was messy. Surprisingly the two were brothers. They always said they didn't look, or act, nothing alike, and it was true. One huge difference in their appearance was that Chris was slim, and only slightly muscular, while his brother, Matt, was taller, by about five inches, older then Chris by nine years, and had an impressive muscular build. As for their personality differences, Matt was quiet, and solemn, while Chris was talkative, jovial, and unquestionably witty.

The two walked out of the house, Matt shoving his hands into his pockets as they walked down the streets of the slums of Treno, as always he wore a serious face that seemed to be carved into his features…

"Did you have a dream last night?" Chris queried.

"No." Matt replied simply.

"I had one. You want to know what it was about?"

"…No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

"Because it was really interesting."

"…Spare me."

"Because, like, I dreamed, that you had a girlfriend." Chris bit his lower lip thoughtfully.

"And I dreamed that you were kidnapped, taken far away from here, into a land so far away that you couldn't possibly count how many miles away you were, and that was the happiest day of my life. But unfortunately, I woke up this morning to your horrible singing while you were taking a bath and I almost cried because it was a dream." Matt responded casually, slightly frowning.

"But I thought you said that you didn't dream? Or did you? Because, if you didn't you really couldn't have dreamed what you said you dreamed because you didn't." Chris continued chewing his lip as the two walked.

"Do you understand one thing you just said? Because I'm at a loss."

"Nope."

"I didn't think so…" Matt sighed, shaking his head at the same time.

"Me neither." Chris said, considerately.

"Er…?" Matt cocked an eyebrow at Chris.

"Whoa!" Chris slapped a hand on Matt's chest, as if to halt him, and at the same time knocked the breath from him. "Look!"

"Odin! Why'd you do that?" Matt shoved Chris, who quickly found his balance and returned too Matt's side.

"Look, brother! Behold!" Chris grabbed Matt's head, and directed his eyes toward a young girl that was climbing up newly established steps, where a ladder used to be. She was coming from the small store he and Matt shopped at weekly.

Matt shoved Chris' hands away, annoyed, and continued walking.

Chris caught up with him, and shook his head. "Dear brother Mathew, don't you know true beauty when you see it?"

"Matt. Not Mathew. And maybe I don't. And for Odin's sake she's probably your age!"

"Why, Mathew? Why? Why must you deny it?"

Sighing, 'Mathew', disregarded his nagging brother as he babbled on until they arrived at the schoolhouse. Apparently she was going to the same place because they had followed her all the way to the building. Hastily, Chris ran into the building after the girl, and immediately called after her.

"Hey, really cute girl!"

Terra wouldn't have turned to him if the halls had been packed with people, but since she was the only person in the hall she turned around. "Me?"

"Ya. What's your name?" Chris moved closer to her casually, taking a better look at her as he did so. Her complexion was that of a natural light tan, her lips had a glossy look to them, and her thick eyelashes emphasized her emerald colored eyes. The most noticeable thing that caught his attention, besides her angelic features, was the single silver strand of hair that fell down past her lips. Another thing was her clothing. She wasn't from the poor section of Treno; she must have been a noble, judging from her attire anyways.

"Who wants to know?" Terra asked, placing one hand on a hip that she swung out too the side, holding a arrogant look on her face.

"My name is Christopher, but of course, you can call me Chris, madam" Chris bowed.

Terra cocked an eyebrow at the young teen and crossed her arms over her chest. "Nice try." Terra chuckled and turned away from him, continuing down the hall to the first door at the end of the corridor as he straightened.

"H-Hey!" Chris jogged to keep up. "C'mon, just tell me! Please?"

"Your really lonely aren't you?" Terra replied without turning to him.

"Yes!" Chris stopped and scratched the back of his neck hesitantly. "Er…I mean no!"

Terra laughed and turned to him. "I'm Terra, nice to meet you, Chris."

"Wow! It's nice to meet you too! What a co-inky-dink!" Chris replied, almost as if he was really surprised, and if you knew Chris well enough, you'd probably think he was surprised.

The two continued down the hall, Chris babbling on about how cool it was that she was his first friend of the year, and how much fun they'd have, and that she could come over any time, and that she was really interesting (even though she hadn't actually said anything), and how that they could be, "best friend and or buddies and or good pals forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever."

_Something tells me that he isn't that smart…or he's just _really _weird… _Terra thought as they reached the door and couldn't help but giggle silently. She reached for the handle, but Chris insisted that he open it for her.

"Um…thanks." Terra looked at him thoughtfully. _I wonder if he has _any _friends at all? He seems real excited that I talked to him. _Terra thought. _Or maybe he just wants in your pants! _A small part of her mind screeched at her. Terra shook her head and went into the classroom after Chris had opened the door, and held it open for her. She took a seat, Chris next to her. The class was partially full, five of the twelve students sat in their seats, conversing with one another.

"So, Terra, you're a noble? I mean, Odin! Look at your clothes! You definitely aren't from the poor section of Treno are you? But I did see you on my way here. So what's the deal?" Chris turned side-saddled in his chair, as too turn toward her fully.

Terra started to speak, but hesitated. She was told not to tell of her heritage. She remembered vividly, about five days ago when she was starting to leave for Treno…

"_Be careful, Terra." Garnet smiled at her daughter. "We're very proud of you." _

_Zidane's tail swished happily. "Remember what I told you?" It was more of a question, then a demand. _

"_Yes, dad. You said not to speak of my heritage, it'll attract a lot of unwanted, and unneeded, attention." _

"_That's my girl."_

"It's inheritance from my mother. She was fairly rich. But she left no money behind. I live in the slums."

Chris nodded thoughtfully. "Wow. Lucky you." His usual bright features turned miserable. "I don't have a mother or father, never knew them, never saw them."

This took Terra by surprise and suddenly her throat felt dry and she was at a loss. "Oh, Chris, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Chris half-grinned. "It's okay."

Seeing that his mood had brightened once again, and that it would be a good idea to change the topic Terra spoke again. "Whom were you walking with?"

"That was Matt, my brother."

"Oh, I see."

"Alright class, quiet down." The high-pitched voice of Doctor Tot came from the front of the room, bringing an end to their conversation. The entire class quieted down, and settled. "Good morning, class. Since we're all fairly strangers, let's take turns telling each other our names. We'll start with you." Doctor Tot pointed at Terra who was in the front left corner.

"Terra."

"Okay, next, behind Terra." Doctor Tot said, pointing to the female behind Terra.

"Christina."

"Next."

"Chad."

"Next."

"Olivia."

This continued until all twelve students told their names. The students were as follows: Terra, Christina, Chadwick, Olivia, Mark, Pat, Chris, Nicole, Jonathon, Titus, Mika, and William. There were three rows each row contained four students.

* * *

Zidane crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a wooden support beam as he waited by the Airship docks. His old friend, Rey, was coming from Lindblum to Alexandria in hopes of getting a job. Zidane of course was willing to give him a post as a Castle Guard. 

Zidane bit his lower lip as he waited, kicking the tip of his shoe against the cobblestone road as his tail swished back and forth behind him.

At last, after countless moments of waiting, an Airship arrived, and the passengers began pouring out. The King scanned the crowd for his friend, but to no avail. Frowning, Zidane moved closer to the airship to watch the travelers file out of the doors, when finally, his friend, who he hadn't seen in well over twenty years, emerged from the airship, hauling two cases of luggage behind him.

Zidane smirked as the blonde-haired male dragged his belongings behind him, seemingly struggling with each step. The man continued walking, clearly missing his friend standing on the side of the ramp, but stopped when Zidane whistled for him. The Genome jogged up to his long ago comrade and they exchanged a handshake.

Rey removed a bandanna from his head and stuffed it into his back pocket, his hair falling down freely. Rey was about as tall as Zidane, and about the same size. Rey also had blonde hair, parted in the middle, but a lot short then Zidane's own.

"It's about time." Zidane said, grabbing one of the bags and slinging it over his shoulder as the two began down the road.

"Hey, not everyone has money. I had to save up for this trip." Rey said. "Now I'm flat out broke."

The Genome frowned. "Well, at least now you won't have to pay rent, and you get paid to walk around in a castle. It isn't all that bad…"

Rey nodded. "True." He said with a grin.

As the two entered the main street, Zidane motioned for Rey to follow him through the winding streets of Alexandria. Zidane, in the lead, waved to countless people as the two walked down the cobblestone street, toward Alexandria Castle.

Meanwhile Rey trailed slightly behind, looking at all the many people of Alexandria, and also gazing at the occasional really attractive woman for minutes on end. And in fact, once they reached the boat that would carry them across the moat, Zidane found Rey gawking at a female walking down the street and literally had to drag him into the boat.

* * *

The students filed out, one by one, through the single door entrance after Doctor Tot released them from class. Class had gone by quick, and he announced that the next day's class would be cancelled because he had been called to Dali to help a sickly person. Of course, as soon as class let out, Chris began talking to Terra happily; even as they walked out the door he continued talking. 

_Yup…he likes you. _A voice inside of Terra whispered as the two walked down the south path, past the café and toward the Card Palace. Chris continued to rattle on, changing the subject to how he loved playing cards so much, and once won fourth place, once they began walking on the stone path that lead past the Card Palace.

"But this one guy, his name was Vivi, odd lookin' dude, had a big hat 'n stuff, and he beat me, putting me in fourth. It was kind of disappointing, but oh well. I still won a few Gil, enough for a few extra things here and there."

Terra found herself not paying attention to good as the two walked along the stone path that seemingly floated upon a small lake of clear water that encircled the entire area, the Card Palace too. Her eyes floated over toward the Card Palace, it was elegant, and from what she could see from the outside, the inside was very simple, with a few tables and chairs set up in an otherwise bare room.

"Hey, Terra, that's your name right?" A female voice interrupted her sightseeing. Terra and Chris turned to the owner of the voice, it was a girl from the class…now what was her name again…Christina, that was it.

"Yes, I'm Terra." The blonde-haired girl replied. The other girl, the same age as Terra and equally attractive, nodded briskly. Her hair was jet black, combed perfectly and ran down to her lower back, her eyes were that of a soft creamy chocolate color, her complexion was that of a dark tan. A black skirt that stopped at mid-thigh, exquisite high heels that resembled something like crystal, and a sleeveless shirt adorned her body.

"I wanted to invite you back to my house. I don't know if you noticed, but a few people were mocking your garments." Christina said as she moved within talking distance of the two.

"My clothing? Why?" Terra looked down at her white dress, there was certainly no stains on it; she had checked it before putting it on.

"Let's just say that those sort of dresses are for royal blood, it doesn't quite look right." Christina touched the material lightly. "I'm willing to take you shopping for new clothes if you'd like, I'll provide you with Gil if you need it."

Terra's face brightened. "Sure! It sounds great!"

"Great, let's go now so I can get the Gil."

"Oh I don't need-" Terra stopped herself, reminding herself of what Zidane had said.

"Don't need what, Terra?"

"Um…I forgot. Sorry, I tend to forget things easily." Terra said with an uneasy grin.

Christina chuckled, and nodded. "It's okay." Christina turned her attention to Chris. "Do you want to come?"

Chris frowned. "I can't. My brother wanted me to help him fix the roof. Sorry."

"Maybe another day then?" Christina asked.

Chris nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright then, Terra, lets get going." Christina linked arms with Terra and smiled to Chris. "Bye-bye Chris."

Terra smiled too. "Bye Chris, I'll come by later and see what you think."

* * *

Rey nearly vomited at the sight of the charred dead body of a man, maybe in his thirties. His arms were crisscrossed above his head; a single long spike had been driven through both of his wrists, hanging him on the wall of a small shop like some sort of wicked decoration… 

A soldier that was accompanying Rey observed the body, and Rey quickly noted that this guy must have _really _had a strong stomach. The two were sent out to investigate as soon as Zidane and Rey arrived at the castle, seeing as most other soldiers were gone at the moment.

The soldier's observation revealed that the man had been stabbed numerous times in the abdomen and chest area, and he must have been set to fire after being stabbed. He quickly noted that there was also an encircled five-pointed star on his forehead, and eerily, it seemed as if the killer had _carved _the symbol into the man's flesh…

Rey, who was turned away from the body decided to speak after gagging multiple times, the stench of death and burned flesh haunted his nose. "…I think we should tell Zidane…" Rey gagged again, but this time not being able to hold back vomit…

"Yeah." The other man agreed and the two walked out of the alley to relay the information too the king.

_Maybe this isn't a good job for me…_ Rey thought as he wiped a substance, that he'd much rather not know what it was, from his lips and stumbled after the other Soldier.

* * *

"Marvelous, Terra, marvelous. You were born to be a model. Why would you hide your body like that?" Christina asked as she gazed at Terra. They were both standing in a small room, Terra in the middle of the room, Christina standing near the door as Terra tried on multiple items of clothing.

Terra could feel herself blushing. "Thanks, Christina." She turned too the body-sized mirrors that reflected her image. She was currently wearing a skirt, a lot shorter then what she was used too, that showed off her legs to the fullest, knee high boots, and a sleeveless shirt; much like what Christina was wearing. She wondered what her mother would think, seeing her daughter wearing a skirt that didn't cover her knees.

_Gods forbid! _Terra thought as she smoothed out the soft material mid-thigh-length skirt.

"Hold on Terra, I'll go get some more clothes for you." Christina exited the room and Terra moved closer to the mirror. She brushed the silver strand of hair out of her face and smoothed out the mini-skirt and thought about how many guys she could attract.

Terra found another outfit, it was a one-piece skirt, a sleeveless, shapely shirt with a V-cut, and at the bottom it turned into a skirt, reaching mid thigh. She grinned at the outfit, finding it likeable, and stripped her shirt, throwing it to the side. As she bent to slide the skirt off, a form in the mirror caught her attention.

A pale-faced man was behind her, clad in a black robe. On his forehead was a gory tattoo, as if a knife had carved it right into his skin, and quite messily at that. The tattoo was that of a five-pointed star encircled with a thin line. His eyes were dull gray, he was bald, and had no eyebrows, nor did he have any color in his lips whatsoever. Dark rings were under his eyes, as if he was seriously intoxicated and hadn't slept in weeks. Terra screamed, turned around…but the person was gone. Carved into the wall where he was standing was the same symbol that was upon his forehead, then from out of the grooves that was the symbol, a dark red liquid oozed from it, blood.

Terra screamed again, and backed up against the wall as the red liquid formed a puddle on the floor, and from out of the puddle raised a liquid humanoid shaped creature. Practically burning on where its forehead should be was the same encircled star.

The door flew open, Christina stood in the doorway, Terra still against the wall. But the blood was no more. There was no star carved into the wall, no bald man, no liquidly creature, nothing.

"Terra! What's the matter?" Christina asked as she ran to her friend's aid, she placed a hand on her shoulder and frowned. "Are you okay? I heard you yell!"

Terra could feel her heart crashing against her ribcage with such intensity that her chest ached. _It wasn't my imagination was it? It couldn't have been…besides, why would I imagine something like that? _Terra could feel her breathing coming easier, and her heart was returning to a somewhat normal beat. "I-I thought I saw a man in here while I was changing."

"Where did he go?" Christina turned around, but there was no sign of anyone inside the room.

"I think it was just my imagination." Terra managed to get that much out before taking a deep breath and leaning back against the wall. The cold of the stone walls against her back made her realize that she was standing halfway naked before her friend.

Christina laughed. "Hey, I never noticed but you have great abs." Christina winked at Terra whose face was flushed. She turned away, and handed Terra a shirt.

* * *

A/N: Alright that's the first chapter. The next chapter, as I will point out, will begin two months later. Eventually all the characters show up, and all the characters get a role. Kuja does too for all you Kuja fans out there. I'm still debating whether or not to start the action in the next chapter. Well, tell me what you think so far, I hope you enjoyed it. Review o buddies of mine!

P.S: If you've been reading my Resident Evil fanfic, then you will probably realize that the female character from that story has the same name as Terra in this story, and may, in some ways, resemble Terra. It isn't that I'm obsessed with the name Terra/Tara, or like blonde-haired, blue-eyed, girls lol. The reason why Terra's name is 'Terra' in this story is because she is named after the planet Terra where Zidane was born…er…created. And the reason she was blonde hair is because Zidane had blonde hair. The reason her eyes are bluish green is because Zidanes are. >.>;

Review! .


	2. The Massacre

_**Final Fantasy IX:**_

_**Rise Of A New Evil**_

_Chapter 2: The Massacre_

A/N: Hmm…well the first chapter didn't do too well, according to the reviews anyways. But as long as there is at least one reviewer, I will continue the story. So here's Chapter 2, and thank you, reviewer!

* * *

**(Two Months Later)**

_You failed to fulfill your destiny, but I am willing to give you a chance to redeem yourself, Dark Messenger. If, of course, you do something for me…Kill that brother of yours…he poses a threat. Not that I can't overcome the weakly Genome myself, it would be one less thing for me to worry about…so what do you say, Angel? One last shot at world domination? _

_No…Never!_

_I will not be denied. The warnings are already appearing, Kuja, have you been keeping track of the killings? The gruesome murders committed by some sort of…cult? One chance left, Genome!_

Once again he woke up to the eerie, genderless voice that beckoned for him to 'redeem himself'. What did he want him to do? Besides killing Zidane…he couldn't kill Zidane. No matter how much jealousy he felt for the blonde haired Genome, he could never bring himself to kill the person who saved his life. Never.

_Look for the five-pointed star… _

_What, now your haunting my mind during the day?_

"Who are you?" Kuja demanded, he slammed his fists down onto the soft bed. "Who are you? Answer me!"

"I am the ultimate life form. I am the End. I am your God. I am the destruction of Gaia." A voice whispered through the room, a seemingly calm male voice, followed by an echoing, demonic voice. "I AM THE ULTIMATE EVIL!" Suddenly the windows tore away from their hinges, smashing against the far wall, a cold wind ripping through the room with utmost fury, knocking over tables, and ripping the sheets from the bed, threatening to make Kuja himself topple over into the floor. Immediately darkness reigned, the sun seemingly disappeared, casting no light upon Gaia whatsoever. The wind blew fiercer, the curtains ripping off the walls only to be pinned against the opposite wall. Across from Kuja's bed, the marble wall began to glow, and suddenly thin rays of fire shot out of the wall, carving a encircled five-pointed star from the inside of the wall, once the symbol was complete, it blazed brightly, the only light in all of the world was the flames that burned violently on Kuja's bedroom wall.

And then all was normal again.

* * *

The sudden darkness was nothing short of unexpected. Whatever had happened, it had gotten _everyone's _attention. Evidently it wasn't only Alexandria that had been pitched into darkness for a few brief moments, because one could see easily that the darkness stretched far beyond the Kingdom of Alexandria, _and _frightened Gaian's sent letters, via moogle, to the Queen about the incident. 

"Your Majesty, your comrades have arrived." It had only been two hours since the sudden blackout. Over the last few weeks there were random killings. This made Garnet fear even more for her daughter's safety, but she had received letters from Terra a day following that incident.

So far, over twenty towns, cities, and villages, on Gaia has experienced some sort of 'sacrifice', with the five-pointed star carved into the flesh of some innocent victim, and sometimes somewhere in the city, the star would appear on a building. Most times, the word 'End' accompanied the five-pointed stars. It wasn't safe. Zidane had sent Rey and Beatrix on a mission to Black Mage Village, while he traveled alone to fetch Terra from Treno.

Garnet looked into her own coffee-brown eyes as she sat in front of the mirror, her brown locks combed neatly and falling to either side. She was starting to get a few small wrinkles on her lightly tanned features. She frowned and stood up, smoothing her dress out as she did so. The dress was new, Zidane had thought it was nice and bought it for her the other day. It was ankle-length, strapless, and fitted tight around her torso and hips. She admitted that it was nice…but was it really, proper?

_No time to think, I need to start the discussion…_ Garnet sighed and turned around, heading for the door.

* * *

Zidane stared down at the folded letter thoughtfully. He had received the letter a day before he left for Treno, where he was headed now. What he found inside was everything but expected. Inside the envelope he had found a letter…sent too him by someone that wished not to exist any longer. Kuja. 

After reading it for the first time, tears came too his eyes, and at the same time he felt confusion, and fear. The tears was because he loved his brother, and hadn't heard from him in so long, he had feared many times that Kuja's life span had run out, so the tears were of happiness, not of sorrow. He felt the confusion and fear because of what was inside of the letter.

The young king looked down at the letter, and unfolded it, reading through it once more…

_Zidane, brother, I know I told you that you would hear no more of me, but there have been strange occurrences. Among the strangest was a sudden blackout; I hear that the entire world witnessed it. After the blackout, there was left a burning mark on my wall, a symbol resembling an encircled five-pointed star. Someone has been warning me in my sleep, and now during the day. The voice says the preparation is complete, and I think you're in dire trouble, the voice tells me to dispose of you so that whoever is speaking to me does not have to deal with you. Let alone your comrades. It also told me to watch for the five-pointed star, and I'm guessing the symbol emblazoned upon my wall is the star the voice was talking about. Zidane, I think this may be serious. Stay alert for any strange occurrences. –Kuja_

Zidane folded the paper back up and sighed. Was his life in jeopardy? Was the life of his friends in jeopardy?

_Dagger…what if Dagger was killed because he wasn't there to protect her? Oh…God's no… _Zidane laid the letter down on the bed in his small cabin aboard the Red Rose and also lied down upon the bed himself. The trip was taking much longer then it would have if he were in the Invincible. But since Rey and Beatrix had such a long way to travel, they were taking the Invincible, while Zidane rode upon the much slower Red Rose.

_Well…at least I'll be there soon… _Zidane thought as he closed his eyes.

* * *

It felt good to see them all again. Finally, they were together once again, most of them anyways. She was especially happy to get to see her cousin, and the young girl she used to envy when she was a child for Zidane liking her so much. Soon after his return from the Iifa Tree though, she found that she really didn't have a crush on him, more like a lot of admiration. Her name was Eiko. At her side were her father, who was aging greatly, and her mother, also aged. She was now twenty-three, and had grown to be an attractive young woman. Her clothing style hadn't changed one bit; she still dressed somewhat the same, of course only when she was traveling as she was now. A pink shirt with flared out arms, and her lower attire consisted of tights like 'Dagger' had once worn but the color of her skin, with a black skirt cut short so that it barely covered her thighs over the tights. On her feet she wore black ankle length boots. 

Looking around, the Regent remembered the entire group that was standing around him. Freya, Quina, and even his own; Eiko, risked their lives to save Gaia. Among the heroes were a few Alexandrian Guards, keeping a close eye on every exit, and also Fratley, who married Freya shortly after Zidane and Garnet's wedding, and Beatrix; wedded to Steiner. Vivi, and Mikoto could not come, Vivi had children to watch, and Mikoto seemed to have bonded with Vivi, becoming a very close friend to him. Steiner, Beatrix, and Zidane were not present because they were currently gone too retrieve Vivi, Terra, and Mikoto.

_It's amazing, _The Regent thought, _how none of them have changed. _And it was quite true, hardly any of their appearances, especially Vivi's and save Eiko, had changed at all over the years.

Garnet soon appeared, walking down the spiral staircase, and despite the fact that she was in her thirties, she still appeared as young, and beautiful as ever.

The Regent smiled softly to his niece and the two exchanged a hug.

"It's nice to see you all, really. I've missed you all." Save Quina, Steiner, and Beatrix, she hadn't seen any of them in well over five years.

Garnet's grin faded and she frowned. "I know we haven't seen each other in quite awhile, but there are urgent matters that must be tended too." The Queen turned too a door. "Follow me, and we will begin."

As the group settled at the long table, Garnet at one end, Regent Cid and Lady Hilda at the other, the brown-haired Queen began.

Before starting, Garnet cleared her throat. "I'm presuming that you're all here because of the strange occurrences that have taken place over the last two months. I agree with you all, this, no doubt, is an urgent matter. It is important that whoever is doing this is stopped, indefinitely, and suffers the proper consequences for his or her actions." She frowned. "But unfortunately, we have no leads as of who has committed these heinous acts. The only thing in common with the victims, and there are countless fatalities I may add, is that whoever kills them leaves some sort of mark on them. Repeatedly it is an encircled five-pointed star, and on occasions it is the word 'End', accompanied by the star. In the past two months, every known town, city, and village on Gaia has experienced the same weird murders."

Freya nodded agreement and spoke her part, "It isn't safe. With someone who has such an evil agenda on the loose, we should not risk another one of these atrocious murders to take place. We should keep close watch on our communities; we should set a curfew, whatever it takes to keep the people of Gaia safe."

"I agree, but finding whoever is doing this, and catching them may be a great task." The Regent added, and Garnet then spoke.

"Agreed, but also, we must keep a close eye on even the smallest villages. Maybe there is a link, but we've just failed to see it. Currently, Rey and Beatrix are probably at Black Mage Village. Zidane sent them to bring the residents of the village back here, Black Mage Village is a small community, and cannot defend themselves as well as other larger cities and towns can."

* * *

With the murders worldwide, it wasn't safe to wonder about the slums alone, especially when you were an attractive young woman carrying Gil. Those were the exact words that came from Doctor Tot a few days before. And she took heed of this warning. She didn't want to become the next unfortunate person used for some sort of cult-like sacrifice. Evidently Doctor Tot was worried. With the blackout, even though it really didn't affect Treno, and these murders, he said something was not right. But she couldn't blame him; she wasn't exactly feeling safe either. Who knows when the next murder may occur? 

Chris' house was pretty far from Doctor Tot's place, and it was a cold night. She had just come from Christina's house, she had stayed the night at Christina's, and unfortunately for her she didn't have a change of clothes, and was stuck walking in the middle of the chilly night in a skirt, knee high boots, and a jacket over a shirt. She was going to ask Doctor Tot to walk home with her, but he was not at home so she was forced to walk home alone.

After finally reaching her house, she dug into her jacket pocket for her key. Nothing but a few hundred Gil, which her parents had mailed to her a few days before, was in her left pocket. Shoving her hand into her right pocket, she was once again left disappointed. The key to her house most have been left at Christina's house, and that was a far walk from her own house. She was cold, and wasn't up for it by any means at all. Chris was the next place she could go, and his home was just about fifteen minutes down the road.

Deciding on it, she wrapped the jacket around herself tighter, crossed her arms over her chest tightly, and started toward the stone stairs. Just as she was walking from behind the small shop, three gruff men stepped in front of her. She attempted to shriek, but her scream was muffled by one of their hands.

"Shut up!" The one holding her mouth stripped her of her jacket, and kneeled over her stomach, pinning her to the ground. He handed the jacket to one of the others, and the two hundred Gil was taken. The man on top of her didn't remove his hand, but with his other started working to search for another pocket.

The others muttered something about her being wealthy; but the chatter was cut short when there was a thud as one of them fell to the ground. She couldn't see past her attacker, but was relieved of his weight as he stood up. The man spun around the second he got to his feet, but only to have someone's fist smash into his face. By this time, the other was attacking whoever was trying to help her, practically jumping onto the persons back, wrapping his arms around her helper's neck, trying to stop him.

Despite the thug's attempts, her rescuer overpowered the man, and threw him over his shoulder and onto the hard, stone ground. All at once the three scrambled to their feet and dashed off, her rescuer going quickly to her aid.

"Are you okay, Terra?" The person asked as he knelt down beside her.

_The person sounds familiar…Matt? _"Y-yes."

"Come on, I'll get you back to the house." Matt helped her up with one strong arm. "They hurt you?"

Terra shook her head casually. "I'm okay."

Matt nodded. "Alright, then let's get going. It's cold as hell out here."

* * *

The village was an absolute _bloodbath_. Black Mages and Genomes were strewn around here and there, large gaping bloody holes in most of their chests. The entire village actually reeked of death. Some of the homes were totally destroyed. But the two guards didn't have long to gawk at the scene before them. Almost as soon as they entered the small village, a sound near the Chocobo Hut, where Chocobo's were raised, had caught their attention. 

Rey had broken into a panicked sweat as soon as they entered the gory village. His arms and legs felt as if they were rubber, his sword in his hand limply. Beatrix however, seemed totally immune too all of this. She seemed as if she was used to seeing scenes like these…and maybe she was. Rey gazed at her as they ran for the Chocobo Hut. For once, he was looking at her tightly fitted pants that hugged her thighs, but he was marveling at her courage, her ability to do her job.

_BAM!_

The explosion-type sound resembled something like the crack of thunder. The two stopped in their tracks, and saw a rather tall, but skinny man holding a long cylindrical object. The object was black, besides a grayish-colored thing near the end of the object. He was holding it by a handle, his index finger on a small lever.

Rey quickly realized that the man was holding two of the objects. Weapons? They couldn't be swords. Staffs? It took Rey a moment to realize that there was five black mages quivering in front of the man, another one lay dead behind the five.

_BAM!_

Simultaneous with the loud noise, a black mage fell backwards, red ribbons of blood spewing from his chest. Rey and Beatrix ran, the man was about ten yards in front of them. Beatrix had her sword, Save the Queen, ready to strike the man, her thoughts trained on killing him-

_BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!_

The remaining Black Mages fell to the ground, twitching twice before halting movement. This stopped Rey and Beatrix in their tracks. They were absolutely stunned by what they'd seen. The source of the noise came from the two cylinder-shaped objects, what killed the Black Mages, they didn't know. The man hadn't moved. There was no signs of magic, only the cylinder-shaped objects that bounced in the black-attired mans' hands each time there was the thunder-sound.

* * *

As the two entered the house, he ushered her to the couch in front of the fireplace, a fire burned there brightly. "Are you sure your okay?" Matt turned from Terra and yelled for Chris, then redirected his attention back to the young girl. 

She nodded. "I'm fine, really."

As Chris entered the room, Matt explained what had happened and said he was going to the store to get her some water and a bandage, because she had an abrasion on her left arm. Matt left the house, closing the door behind him silently.

Chris ran a hand through his hair and sat next to Terra.

"Chris, I'm cold." She shivered slightly, and he noted that goose bumps covered her legs. The brown-haired teen nodded, and got up to find her a blanket.

Terra brushed the silver strand of hair from her face and pulled her legs up onto the couch, hugging her knees close to her chest. The emerald-eyed girl watched the fire burn in the fireplace, the crackling of the flames somewhat soothing. She hugged her legs closer and buried her face into them.

* * *

Since the small shop down the street was closed, Matt was forced to walk a longer distance to a store. He felt pity for the young girl Terra; she seemed nice enough, what had she done to deserve almost being mugged, or maybe worse? He shook his thoughts as he walked down through the cold, dark streets of Treno. It had been ten minutes since he left home, and he was sure Chris could take care of Terra. Though Chris was quite the clown, and seemed almost dim-witted, he was actually a smart person who could be serious, and good thinker, given the right situation. 

"Hey, hero."

Matt spun around, facing the trio of muggers. Each was standing side-by-side, their faces covered by the cowl of the hooded cloaks they wore, and a bandanna tied around their mouths. He looked them over carefully and evidently they were mad, and each carried a short blade.

"You shouldn't have interfered back there." One of them said, closing the distance between himself and Matt.

"What was she your girlfriend? A bit of a age difference isn't there?" Another said, following his comrades' movements.

"You should have let us do our business with the girl, and you'd still be living by tomorrow." The last spoke as he too followed the other two.

A small smirk formed upon Matt's face. "Run now, and you may still be living in ten minutes."

They all cackled at this, and suddenly one jumped at him, swinging his sword arrantly. Matt ducked, and the blade slipped past him, as he came up a solid fast dug into the abdomen of the man and he doubled over, falling to his knees and using his arms to press against the ground, creating something to hold him up. Matt, taking this opportunity, delivered a kick to the elbow of the thug. The crack of bone satisfied him, he turned to the others and smirked.

One of the thugs hesitated, but the other urged him on and the man approached Matt a bit more carefully then the other had, taking slow steps, and keeping his eyes fixed on Matt's form. He stopped, within two arm lengths, not moving, but watching Matt as if he was watching his every action. Matt took a quick fake step forward, and the mugger jumped back. The thug shook his head and gripped his sword tighter. In a sudden burst of courage he sprinted forward, taking a slice at Matt's mid section.

Matt jumped backwards, but the man didn't give him time to think of his next move and swung the sword back toward Matt who ducked, and using the same tactics as before, delivered a blow to the mans abdomen. Before he could finish the thug, the last one was dashing forward, hacking madly. First he side stepped to avoid being cut vertically, then he jumped backwards to avoid a horizontal slash, then he ducked to avoid loosing his head, and the onslaught continued. He sprung up, like a frog, avoiding a low slash. As the man brought his sword up for another slash, Matt could do nothing but stumble backwards, and instantly the man was on top of him, one hand gripping Matt's neck, the other pointing the tip of the blade at his forehead.

"This is it, Hero. Was she really worth-"

_BAM!_

The man's eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped. The unfamiliar roar that erupted from Matt's hand sent pain through the thugs' abdomen. His grip on the sword loosened, and it clattered to the ground, and the thug fell backwards, blood oozing from a wound in the man's abdomen.

Matt jumped up, shoving a cylindrical object into his pants pocket as he did so. The other two thugs had fled, and the last lie on the cobblestone street with blood oozing from his wound, his life slowly slipping away. Matt swallowed hard, and glanced around. "Shit!"

There was a sudden burst of light behind him, in which he immediately turned too. Blazing upon a wall was an encircled five-pointed star. It burned fiercely, red flames rising off the mark, lighting the entire street. He had heard of this five-pointed star, in fact, just a few days ago a grizzly murder occurred, in which a five-pointed star was left charred upon a stone wall, and on the forehead of a old woman. And maliciously, the five-pointed star reminded him vividly of his past…

Gritting his teeth he turned around quickly, and the thug was gone. Not a sign that he was even there was left behind. "You're following me." Matt mumbled, to nobody in particular.

_Oh…oh yes I am, Matt. I must keep a close eye on a traitor like you…you could be a problem…_ A genderless voice slipped through his mind, sending chills down his spine.

Matt crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Whatever."

_Watch your attitude, boy. _

Matt started into a slow run, pushing away the genderless, demonic voice as he made his way down the street. Surely, a lot of nosey people would come to see what the noise was, and he didn't want to be around when they started asking questions.

* * *

A/N: Woo! Chapter 2 is done. It wasn't as long as the first one, so I apologize for that, I hope you guys didn't mind. Umm, yeah you can probably start making tiny little guesses as to what the plot will be like.

But anyways, PLEASE REVIEW. I don't want all of this work to be for nothing, and if I don't get reviews, I'm going to stop the story, no sense in wasting my time, you know?

ecaeP (Hint: Look at it backwards. P )


	3. Rise Of A New Evil

_**Final Fantasy IX:**_

_**Rise Of A New Evil**_

Chapter 3: Rise Of A New Evil

**  
**

A/N: I don't even remember the last time I updated; about a month ago would be an accurate guess I'm willing to bet. I apologize for that, but since summer vacation has arrived, I should be able to update a lot more. I've just been busy lately, again, sorry. I hope this chapter makes up for it? Please forgive me. But I need reviews in order to keep going. No reviews, no story. So R&R!

* * *

Rey ran forward, thrusting his blade at the mysterious man. The black-attired man disappeared, the sword cutting through the air where he once stood. Rey spun around, sword ready. There was nothing to be seen. Beatrix was looking just as confused, both looked around frantically.

The stench of blood and death filled his nostrils. Who the hell was that guy? What the hell did he do to them? Damn it! Rey had only got a short-lived look at the man. He was tall, but skinny, yet still muscular. The man was dressed in loose-fitting black pants with three belts wrapped around each thigh, the belts held some sort of sheath to each thigh. He also wore black boots with three spikes, about four-inches long at the tip of each boots' toe. His upper attire was a black leathery jacket, unbuttoned, no shirt underneath. Each hand was covered with mid-forearm length gloves with metal plating on the forearms of the gloves and short, but very sharp and deadly points at the fingertips of the gloves. He also wore a mask that hid only his face, a strap held it to his head. Golden hair flared up from behind the dark colored mask.

_Click. Click._

Rey and Beatrix both jumped at the noise. It was foreign. They both stood still for a moment but nothing happened. Everything was quiet.

Rey looked at Beatrix and gave a slight nod. "I think he's gone. Let's find the Mage."

"_Vivi is dead…"_ A mysterious voice whispered. It wasn't distant; it was as if the owner of the voice was right next to them. The voice was so sudden, and so…demonic, that it made Rey jump.

"Dead? Who are you? How would you know?" Beatrix demanded.

"_Because I killed him…" _The voice responded, trailing off, a short-lived snicker following the trailing voice.

Beatrix spun around in hopes of finding the owner of the voice, but to no avail. "Where are you? Show yourself, coward!"

"_On-the-contrary, Beatrix. It seems that the coward here, is the friend of the King…" _The voice replied calmly.

Rey kicked the ground with his boot and held his short sword up. "Coward? I ain't no coward! Come over here and I'll make you eat those words!"

"_Oh…I doubt that, Rey." _The voice retorted.

"This is insane! How do you know our names?" Beatrix stomped a foot on the ground. "Who are you?"

"_I am your downfall, and my master will be the downfall of Gaia. You've had time to prepare, I'm sure you've seen the five-pointed stars, the symbol of my master. None has taken heed to our warnings, and now you shall _DIE!_" _Suddenly the black-attired man appeared in front of Beatrix, and he delivered a gut-wrenching blow to her stomach, causing her to double over and fall to the ground, her sword falling to the pebble road.

The masked assailant then swiftly turned around to face Rey, whom was already thrusting his sword forward at the man. The man brought up a single arm, and deflected the blade with the metal plating on the forearm of his glove like one would do with a sword. This caused Rey to stumble backwards, but he found his balance quickly. Just like his friend, Zidane, he was very agile and reflexive. Rey swung again at the man, this time a left to right vertical slash aimed at his abdomen, but the man back flipped. As soon as Rey's sword reached the pinnacle of the swing, the dark-attired man dashed forward, and leaped high enough into the air to deliver a bone-cracking knee to Rey's chest that sent both falling. Rey landed on his back, while the dark attired man performed a gravity-defying front flip and corkscrew in the air that landed him in a squatting position, back to Rey, and facing the just recovering Beatrix.

Even as Beatrix was raising her sword to dash forward and strike the mysterious man, she realized he was at his feet and running full speed toward her, but was running very low, as if still squatting. Beatrix cursed under her breath and quickly brought her sword up over her head. As he reached her, she brought the sword down with all her might, hoping to deliver the killing blow to the man. But despite her attempts, he put his metal-plated gauntlet-like gloves over his head in a X-shape. The sword pounded down on his forearms, but to no avail, and he sprung into the air, at the same time he uncrossed his arms quickly, causing the sword to be knocked from her grip. The man performed a front flip, and corkscrewed in the air, landing behind her, her back facing him. She didn't even have time to turn around, let alone regroup from his lightening-fast movements, when he struck her in the back with his pointed claw-like gloves. The claws ripped through the back of her shirt, shredding the material and creating four diagonal gashes from her right shoulder blade, down to past her lower back. The slash shredded her belt, and it fell to the ground, a brown bag containing Potions and Phoenix Downs falling to the ground with it.

Beatrix screamed in pain as the claws tore through her back, and lower. She stumbled forward, wrenching in pain. She had to keep going! No matter what the circumstances. Beatrix turned around, though unarmed she was going to fight to the end. Meeting her as she turned was the end of the mysterious cylinder-shaped things the man had killed the mages with. She hadn't even paid attention to them until now; they had been sheathed in the holsters on each of his thighs. What were they? The cylindrical object was hollow, only a black hole at the end-

"Oomph!" Beatrix was pushed away, just as a deafening noise exploded just beside her. There was a scream of pain, and she turned around, Rey was standing there clutching a bloody shoulder. Blood oozed through his fingers as he stood there, clutching desperately at the wound, his face was twisted in pain, and he was stumbling backwards.

The dark-attired man laughed and shook his head. "These are called 'guns'," He started as he grabbed the other from its holster. He held both in front of him, by their handles. "A lot more powerful then those petty swords you use. These particular 'Guns', are called Shotguns." The man tossed the 'Shotguns' into the air, the end of each barrel of the guns pointing into the air. He then caught them again, by some sort of connected object. He then jerked them up and down, both made a '_Chick, Chick'_ noise. "These are the pumps, and well, I just pumped them. After you pump them, you can…well…shoot." The man snickered, and aimed at Beatrix. "Time to die!"

_Bam! Bam!_

The thunder-like explosion that sounded from the end of the shotguns was warning enough for her to _move_. Beatrix dropped to her hands, in a push-up position, just barely missing certain death. The man was still pointing at her, a sinister grin upon his pale face. She could just see the evil burning in his eyes as he stared at her through two small eyeholes for the mask-_BAM! BAM! _

Beatrix rolled to the side, the ground exploding beside her, pebbles showered down onto her, and at that moment she realized a bullet had grazed her shoulder, ripping through her shirt, and leaving a small scratch on her shoulder-_Chick, Chick. _

_Damn he's quick! _Beatrix found herself rolling to dodge two more blasts, as she called them since there was nothing else she could relate them too, and she quickly jumped to her feet. The right side of her shirt collapsed, since the shoulder of the shirt had been shredded, exposing a feminine-shaped chest-plate underneath.

Meanwhile the man dodged weak attempts to stab him by Rey, it was his sword arm that had been damaged, leaving him in a pretty damn tight situation. The black-attired man taunted Rey, as he jumped forward, and backward, not allowing Rey an open shot at him.

The black attired-man snickered. "Your swordsmanship is very poor, give it up."

"Go to hell!" Rey shouted angrily.

The man snickered yet again. "I just came from there, why would I want to return so soon?"

Rey dashed forward, yelling out at the man as he thrust his sword forward and

"Missed!" The man hissed as he landed behind Rey after performing a quick flip and corkscrew. As Rey turned around he holstered the Shotguns, and ran forward, delivering a solid forearm to Rey's head, the metal plating braking skin and causing him to fall backwards, blood spilling from his forehead.

The man then turned around in time to dodge the tip of Beatrix's blade and she missed him and ran past him, and then un-holstered a shotgun, not needing to pump, and hardly having too aim at her, he fired it.

Beatrix screeched in pain as she fell to the ground, face-first. Pain surged up through her leg as she slowly turned around onto her back. She looked down at her right leg, and the pain seemed to double at the sight of the bloody hole in her right leg, just above her kneecap. It hurt…it _hurt like hell_. Beatrix grabbed her leg and sobbed silently, the pain was plainly unbearable.

The man laughed at the sight of the woman, the strongest on Gaia, holding her leg in severe pain. _What a pity she has to die, she's quite the looker…maybe I'll let her live and turn her into my companion…Haha…Oh yes that would be great. But orders are- _

The man fell forward, face-first, Rey was standing behind him, the butt-end of the swords' handle was bloody, as was the back of the mysterious-mans' head. "Bastard!" Rey yelled out, and he raised his sword with one arm, his other arm was completely useless, and he slammed the tip into--the ground? "He disappeared! He fucking disappeared!" Rey exclaimed. Only a dark mist-like shadow remained where the man had laid.

Beatrix forced the best grin she could. "Maybe you killed him. Thank Odin!"

Rey grinned. "Yeah! I guess I did!"

"DO YOU WANT TO BET ON THAT?" The voice of the man came from behind Rey, and as the blonde-haired male spun around, he met the fist of the masked-man. Before Rey could tumble backwards from the impact of the punch, the man grasped his throat and lift Rey into the air with one arm. The mans' eyes burned crimson and he applied more pressure.

Rey struggled to get a breath, but to no avail, the grip was just plainly too tight. He could feel his grip loosening on the sword, but refused to drop it, he put all his strength into holding the sword up, and then his vision blurred. Life slipping away from him…

"Hey! Look!" Beatrix yelled, though the dumbest trick in the book, she had to hope, she couldn't do much more.

"Hold on, baby!" The man yelled back. "Just let me finish off your friend and I'll tend to your needs!" The man said sarcastically. He squeezed harder.

Beatrix clenched her teeth. She couldn't let him die. "Look!" No response. "Hey! Hey! Look over here!" The man continued squeezing. "HEY!"

The man looked back over his shoulder. "Would you shut the hell up!" The man exclaimed. He would turn around again soon; there wasn't much she could do, he started to turn back toward Rey-and then the point of Rey's blade emerge from the man's back. And then just like before, the male disappeared, Rey falling to the ground, his sword clattering to the pebbles next to him.

Beatrix started to pull herself toward Rey whom was coughing violently. Once at his side she grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Are you okay?" Rey coughed. "Squeeze if yes." He squeezed.

Rey coughed again, and a faint grin appeared on his face. "N-nice work…Damn…my t-throat."

"Just rest, it's all over." Beatrix said as she stared at his wound.

"Over? Oh it's far from over!"

"Oh no!" Beatrix exclaimed as she turned around to see the Shotgun-wielding man standing just feet from them, a Shotgun aimed at both of them.

"Three in one village. What luck, right?" The man said sarcastically, a muttered laugh ensuing.

* * *

She _really _needed some new clothes to wear. It was already the _third _day wearing the same clothes. She _never _did that before. Let alone wear the same undergarments two days in a row, unless of course she cleaned them. Seeing as how she was wearing a skirt, she had to wear her undergarments.

Terra pushed a few wet locks of hair behind her ears, the same silver strand hanging down her face as always. Terra looked into the mirror hanging on the wall, and frowned. She hated that strand of hair! Sighing Terra retrieved a towel from a cabinet and-

_Kaboom! _

Terra spun away from the mirror and hurriedly wrapped herself in the towel. _What the hell was that? _Terra thought to herself as she ran to the nearest window. Pulling back the curtains, she hurriedly opened the window-and gasped. The town was under attack. There were countless black mushroom-shaped clouds floating into the night-sky, and there were figures walking about. They weren't Monsters; they were humans, though she couldn't see them in the darkness they were human-shaped.

Terra stared in horror as the mysterious people violently attacked the Treno civilians as they ran past. They were all armed with swords and clubs. She watched as one of them literally pounced on a civilian and began pounding it's wooden club against the person's skull relentlessly- and then the attacker looked at her.

Terra shut the window and pulled the curtains back. She took steps backwards, and then the window shattered. Terra screamed as she saw the assailant's head poke into the window…it wasn't human. Hell, she wasn't even sure it was _alive_. The _things'_, face was decaying, skin missing in various places, shiny bones showing through missing portions of its face. It had fanged teeth, and coal black eyes that stared a hole in her. The thing made some sort of ghastly noise, and jumped out of the window. Only to have it's bloody, wooden club thrown into the window a split second afterwards.

Terra ducked quickly, the club grazed the top of her head and smashed into the far wall…and the only light source in the room, a lamp. Terra screamed again, hoping to Odin that Chris and Matt were on their ways…but what if they'd already been killed-The door flew open just as the creature jumped into the window again. Light, provided by the moon, was just enough to make out the form of Matt standing in front of her.

The creature growled and leapt forward, crashing into Matt and sending him to the ground. Matt clawed desperately at the things face, trying to get it to stop, all the while pieces of rotten flesh was getting in Matt's fingernails. His two thumbs finally found their place in the things eyes, and he pressed. He pressed _hard_. The thing growled in agony and leapt backwards, bloody rivulets running down it's pale and rotting face.

Meanwhile Terra used this time to gather the clothes she could find, most were strewn around the room. After getting what she could find in the little time provided, Terra dashed out of the room and straight into Chris' bedroom where she had slept. Terra dropped her towel onto the floor and fumbled through the small pile of clothes for her underwear. After finding them, she found it quite hard to put them on, given the circumstances. It was dark, and she was panicking.

After getting her legs into the undergarments, she struggled to get them up past her thighs; she hadn't had time to dry off. Terra tugged at the waist of the garments, they started to slide up her wet legs. Terra then put her loose-fitting tank-top on, and then her jacket, she hadn't found her bra. And the door opened. So scared Terra thrust any nearby object at whomever it was, the object turned out to be one of her boots.

"Ah! Damn! Terra it's me!" Chris rubbed his head and looked at her; seeing that she was in her undergarments he turned away, tossing the boot at her over his shoulder. "Hurry up!"

Terra complied and put the miniskirt on, and then laced up her heel-less leather boots. Terra then ran toward him and they both ran out of the room and headed downstairs, to see the couch and table flipped on their sides, Matt sitting behind a couch.

"Stay low!" Chris ordered as he and Terra crouched down and moved over to where Matt was seated behind a couch. Chris plopped down next to Matt, and was handed something. Something pretty small. It was a metal object, with a very long handle, and a very small lever on it. "Update?" Chris asked plainly.

Matt was busy fiddling with an object that resembled what Chris held. Something had fallen out of the bottom of the handle, equally as long as the handle. Matt retrieved an object that looked the same as what was ejected out of the bottom of the object and jammed it into the bottom of the handle. He then looked at Chris. "There's about thirty of them out there. It's loaded, I have four extra clips."

Chris nodded, and then frowned. "How does he know we're here?"

Terra was confused in all of this and she looked back and forth between the two. "Who? Who knows we're here?"

Matt ignored her question and replied to Chris' question. "He talked to me last night. He's been keeping tabs."

"Do you think Beta and Gamma are here?"

Matt shrugged. "Most likely at least one of them is here."

"Who?" Terra asked again.

Matt turned to Terra. "Terra, I'm sorry you've been dragged into all of this. But there's someone that doesn't like us, looking for us."

Terra cocked an eyebrow. "And that person sent all of these people to get you?"

Matt nodded. "Unbelievable, but necessary. Just stay down, Chris and me will hold them off. Terra nodded and then Matt jumped up into a crouching position. "Chris, I'll take the left window, you take the right. Terra, stay here. On three…One…two…Three!" And Matt jumped up, Chris following his actions and the two went to a window, immediately sitting under the windowsill.

Chris breathed heavily; he gripped the Gun in his hand. The past was supposed to be behind them. That's the reason they moved here. Hell, he wasn't even part of anything. It was Matt who betrayed them, not him. His life shouldn't be at risk right now! But of course, being an offspring, of _him, _and a brother of Matt, he was a threat. He squeezed the Gun; it was a vivid reminder of the life his brother used to live.

_Rat-atat-atat!_

Chris looked over at Matt, who was pointing his gun out the window and spraying any and everything with bullets. Chris took another breath and he too jumped up, and started firing out the window at random figures…this was nothing short of war.

* * *

The Kingdoms' walls had been breached a long time ago, and now the unknown forces were pouring into the town like a raging rapid, spreading destruction throughout the town like wildfire, and killing anyone in their way. The Queen looked down at the Kingdom below from her window high in the castle. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Her kingdom was being _destroyed_, ravaged by these unknown people. Already one fourth of Beatrix's army, now under control by Steiner since she was absent, had been wiped out. Whether or not any Pluto Knight's were still alive, was unknown.

The Queen gripped the collar of her flowing gown. She could easily summon Bahamut, or Alexander to wipe them out, but what if a few innocent lives were lost? Or the lives of the Soldiers trying to protect her kingdom?

A hand fell on her shoulder, a firm, strong, hand that reassured her. The hand of her Uncle, the Regent Cid of Lindblum. "Garnet, war happens, you must understand. I have sent for troops from Lindblum, but I do not know how long this will take."

Garnet turned to her Regent and grinned the best she could. She looked past him and at her allies, Eiko, Steiner, Freya, Fratley, everyone. They were all standing, with their weapons in their hands, ready to defend the queen and their friend. Their faces were reassuring, and made her feel safe. Only one thing was missing…Zidane. Garnet looked back out the window.

_Please, Zidane, hurry. _

* * *

The Genome couldn't believe his eyes. Treno was under attack. Why? Why Treno, of all places? Zidane rushed into the gates, only to be halted by a guard.

"Please, sir, Treno is under pressing circumstances, we cannot let you pass." The man said, holding a hand out to stop Zidane.

"Like hell you can't!" Zidane exclaimed, pulling his Ultima Weapon from his back, at his hips were a pair of twin daggers. Zidane walked past the man, and started down the stairs, into the once-peaceful city, now a war zone. The man didn't stop him.

_Terra's in there, I have to get her out. Odin willing she's still alive. _Zidane thought as he arrived at the path that lead to Doctor Tot's home. The stone path was littered with dead bodies; the Doctor's house was ablaze. Zidane frowned for a moment he stared at the burning building, but moved on; down into the nobles' section of the city, he had to find Terra.

As Zidane rushed past the entrance of the Card Palace, a voice halted him. The voice was smooth, and flat, and somehow sinister. Zidane spun around to face the owner of the voice, only to have that person rush forward, the shimmer of the persons' blade shining brightly just feet away from the King of Alexandria.

* * *

A/N: I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, as you see, the plot is forming. I'm sorry I had to wipe out Vivi and his kids –sobs-. Well, if you liked, or disliked, review! Flames welcome. So please review! And also, a question you may have been asking yourself at the Black Mage Village scene: is Mikoto dead? You'll just have to read on to find out. Next chapter already in the works! Well…in my head anyways.

Peace!


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